Great start of 2024 for ONDE

ONDE noted PLN 22.1 million of operating profit and PLN 17.4 million of net profit in the 1st quarter of 2024. The sale of own RES projects had a crucial impact on those very good results.

In the 1st quarter of 2024, one of the largest the construction and developer companies in the RES sector in Poland  generated over PLN 168 million of income, versus PLN 182.7 million in the same period of 2023 (- 8% y-o-y). A slight adjustment results completely from lower activity levels in the road construction sector, in which the revenues decreased by ca. PLN 17 million y-o-y. In the 1st quarter, the gross margin on sales was at the level of PLN 13 million, versus PLN 8.8 million in the preceding year (+48%), EBIT increased from PLN -3.3 million to PLN 22.1 million, and the net result rose from PLN -4.9 million to PLN 17.4 million. This significant increase in the ONDE profitability mainly stems out from sale of three photovoltaic (Jawor, and Jelenia Góra I and II) and one wind (Szybowice) projects, of a total capacity of 60 MW.

‘In the first quarter, we developed the Develop-Build-Sell strategy with significant dynamics and noticeable success, the strategy which we have been implementing for several years. Not only we generated financial resources from commercialisation of developer projects, but also secured for us contracts for their completion,’ says Paweł Średniawa, President of ONDE.

Today, ONDE’s developer portfolio includes projects at the building permit stage of the total capacity of ca. 280 MW, and the company expects expansion of its portfolio.

‘We had a very strong start of 2024, and we do not intend to stop. We believe that within 2–3 years, we will implement investments at a level of 130 MW on the basis of projects from our current portfolio, as well as from acquisitions. We have expanded the development team, obtained a credit line of PLN 100 million, and have several million zloty of own resources for investments. It is a good time for further robust development of this segment of our activities, and we are organisationally and financially ready to increase our pace,’ emphasises Paweł Średniawa.

The Company Management Board also announces an intent to at least double its developer portfolio to the target level of 1.6–1.8 GW within 2–3 years. It is already negotiating purchase of advanced RES projects.

‘We are participating in several negotiation processes concerning projects at an advanced development stage. Those which construction can be started relatively soon. We hope to complete those transactions by the end of this year,’ adds Paweł Średniawa.

In the RES construction sector, at the end of March 2024, the value of ONDE’s external RES orders portfolio amounted to PLN 586 million, i.e. 11% less than at the same time of the previous year. However the Company, similarly as the entire RES sector, expects a significant increase in investments in the energy transition, due to the improving legislative environment and, first of all, due to resources from the National Recovery Plan or the Cohesion Fund transferred to Poland.

‘On one hand, an opportunity for improvement in the market, blocked by a low efficiency of the grid, is offered by cable pooling. It enables creation of hybrid wind and solar systems, without a need to obtain a separate connection to the grid. It is an excellent solution both for investors and for our power supply system. On the other hand, we have great funds under EU programmes designated for energy transition. Estimated expenditures on energy transition are at a level of over PLN 400 billion by 2030, and according to our assumptions, a value of the pool of projects of which ONDE can be a direct beneficiary amounts to over PLN 50 billion,’ reminds Paweł Średniawa. ‘The release of this potential will probably take some time, but it is hard to find another market with better perspectives and developing as robustly within next 2–3 years as RES,’ concludes ONDE President.